Trump sees progress as US and Iran hold talks in Qatar
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that indirect talks with Iran in Qatar were making progress, offering a tentative sign that diplomacy was holding after recent exchanges of fire threatened efforts to end the Middle East war.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who led Tehran’s delegation, later said the talks had concluded and that the sides had agreed to establish a communication channel by Thursday to report and record violations of their initial memorandum of understanding.
Iran had insisted there would be no direct negotiations in Doha on the deal, which aims to end the war that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.
“As far as things are going, the denuclearisation of Iran is moving along well,” Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One. “We hit them very hard … but we’re getting along very well.”
The memorandum of understanding, mediated by Qatar and Pakistan and sealed at a summit last month in Lucerne, Switzerland, includes a 60-day ceasefire, the reopening of the blockaded Strait of Hormuz and a timetable for a final deal on the war and Iran’s nuclear programme.
The Qatar discussions, held at a lower level and focused on implementing the memorandum, were meant to “build on the progress made at the Lake Lucerne Summit”, a diplomat said on condition of anonymity.